The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to disclose the full account details of the Police Service Commission in connection with a N100 million damages judgment arising from the alleged killing of a Lagos pastor’s wife.

Justice D.I. Dipeolu gave the order on Friday, September 25, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1509/2017.

The case arose from the alleged killing of Comfort, wife of a pastor at the Full Gospel Church of God, Godwin Udoh, who was reportedly shot dead by a policeman suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol.

Udoh, who was returning home with his wife and their children after a church program on September 15, 2015, was also hit by a bullet but survived the shooting.

He was, however, left with a permanent dislocation of his jaw after the policeman allegedly shot at them over his refusal to pay N2,000 at Ijegun Bus Stop, located between Ejigbo and Abaranje communities.

While the criminal aspect of the case is still ongoing, the same court, on May 20, 2020, awarded the applicants N100m in damages against the relevant respondents, in addition to N30,000 in costs.

The applicants—Udoh and his four children, Mary, Blessing, Abraham, and Elijah—subsequently obtained a garnishee order nisi attaching funds belonging to the PSC in the CBN’s custody.

In the latest ruling obtained by PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, the court directed the CBN, which is the garnishee in the matter, to provide a true and comprehensive statement of the PSC’s accounts under all relevant Treasury Single Account platforms.

The order followed an application by the judgment creditors, who had complained that the CBN’s earlier disclosure showed only a single account with a zero balance and no transaction history.

The applicants argued that the disclosure was insufficient, particularly because the PSC is a federal government agency operating under the TSA framework and receives budgetary and operational allocations.

The CBN, however, opposed the application, arguing that it had already complied with the court’s order by filing affidavits disclosing the position of the PSC’s account in its custody.

The bank also argued that the applicants had provided no specific evidence of undisclosed accounts and were effectively asking the court to embark on a fishing expedition.

In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu disagreed with the position of the CBN, noting that the PSC, as a federal government agency, receives budgetary and operational funds.

The judge said it was “quite unbelievable” for an agency as important as the PSC to have a zero balance in its account and found that the account details earlier provided by the CBN were not sufficiently detailed to show the PSC’s budgetary allocations and expenditures for the relevant period.

The court consequently ordered the CBN to file and make available a comprehensive statement of the PSC’s accounts under all relevant TSA platforms.

“I have gone through the 5th Judgment Debtors Affidavits to Show Cause filed by the Central Bank of Nigeria; the Garnishee/Respondent, the accounts are not detailed enough to even show the budgetary allocations and/or expenditures of the Police Service Commission for that period,” the ruling partly read. (The PUNCH)

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